AI-Driven Storytelling: Adherence to Narrative Structures in Gaming Scenarios

While intelligent virtual agents (IVAs) are often deployed in creative processes, which can be untargeted, specific games and health-related use cases require reliability and adherence to given information and scenarios. This paper explores IVA s possibilities and limitations in the context of story driven gaming, specifically their role as Dungeon Masters (DMs) in role-playing games (RPGs). RPGs have been shown to influence mental health positively, providing cognitive benefits through their conversational nature. We use an IVA to autonomously guide users through an immersive role-playing experience. Our study found that the IVA excelled in creating and managing fictional worlds, demonstrating strong adherence to these aspects of game leadership. However, it exhibited challenges in understanding and responding to player inputs, leading to varying adherence in other key competencies of a role-playing leader. Notably though, only a fraction of adherence breaches were perceived or found disruptive by participants. The IVA's use of both text and voice output was well-received, although improvements in voice intonation and speed could potentially enhance the overall user experience.